Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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Percent (%)
59.6
5.3
Dystric Nitosols
145.5
11.9
Orthic Acrisols
285.2
23.3
Total
1225.6
100
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Sub-total
Forest Land
Sub-total
Grass Land
Sub-total
Shrub and Bush Land
Slope (%)
0-3
3-8
8-15
15-30
30-50
0-3
3-8
8-15
15-30
30-50
>50
0-3
3-8
8-15
15-30
30-50
0-3
3-8
8-15
15-30
30-50
Sub-total
Grand total
ha
126.38
99.28
176.62
70.76
7.4
480.44
2.5
13.14
80.62
294.94
62.9
2.43
456.53
35.15
22.04
87.19
47.03
1.05
192.46
5.15
17.95
34.67
32.41
5.96
96.13
1225.56
%
10.31
8.1
14.41
5.77
0.6
39.2
0.2
1.07
6.58
24.07
5.13
0.2
37.25
2.87
1.8
7.11
3.84
0.09
15.7
0.42
1.46
2.83
2.64
0.49
7.84
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considering local management practices and it was taken the weighed value for similar land use types. The
corresponding P values were assigned to each land use/land cover classes and slope classes and the P factor map
was produced.
2.2.3 Soil Loss Analysis
The overall methodology involved the use of the RUSLE in a GIS environment with factors obtained from
meteorological stations, soil map, topographic map, Satellite Images and DEM as shown in equation 4 and figure
5. Annual soil loss rate was determined by a cell-by-cell analysis of the soil loss surface by superimposing and
multiplying the respective RUSLE factor values (R, K, LS, C and P) interactively by using Spatial Analyst Tool
Map Algebra Raster Calculator in ArcGIS 10.1 environment as shown equation 3 adopted from the
recommendations of Hurni (1985) and Gebreselassie (1996). For the purpose of identifying priority areas for
conservation planning, soil loss potential of the watershed was then categorized into different severity classes
following FAO & UEP (1984) guide line.
A= LS* R* K* C* P... . Equation (3)
Where A is the annual soil loss (metric tons ha-1yr-1); R is the rainfall erosivity factor [MJ mm h-1 ha-1 yr-1]; K is
soil erodibility factor [metric tons ha-1 MJ 1 mm-1]; LS = slope length factor (dimensionless); C is land cover
and management factor (dimensionless); and P is conservation practice factor (dimensionless). Ground truth data
collected by GPS were used for checking and validation of results.
Figure 8: Flow Chart showing the GIS based Soil Loss Estimation
2.2.4 Sediment Yield
The sediment delivery ratio (SDR) denotes the ratio of the sediment yield at a given stream cross section to the
gross erosion from the watershed upstream from the measuring point (Julien, 1998). To generate the sediment
yield at the outlet, empirical equations were carried out.
SDR = A-0.2....Equation (4)
Where, SDR denotes the sediment delivery ratio and area of the watershed. The SDR physically means the ratio
of the sediment routed to the outlet over the watershed, both overland and channel.
Sediment yield is commonly estimated by the following empirical formula:
Sy=E*(1/A0.2) .............................................................................................................Equation (5)
Where, Sy= Sediment yield (ton) at the watershed out let; E = total erosion (ton); A = watershed area (ha)
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Rainfall Erosivity Factor
Soil loss is closely related to rainfall partly through the detaching power of raindrops striking the soil surface and
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partly through the contribution of rain to runoff (Morgan, 1994). The soil loss is closely related to rainfall partly
through the detaching power of raindrop striking the soil surface and partly through the contribution of rain to
runoff. The average annual rainfall of the watershed is approximately 1900 mm. The result showed that rainfall
erosivity factor (R-factor) value in the watershed ranged between 1059.68 MJmm ha1yr1.
3.2 Soil Erodibility Factor
The erodibility of a soil is an expression of its inherent resistance to particle detachment and transport by rainfall.
It is determined by the cohesive force between the soil particles, and may vary depending on the presence or
absence of plant cover, the soils water content and the development of its structure (Wischmeier and Smith,
1978). The soil erodibility factor (K) represents the effect of soil properties and soil profile characteristics on soil
loss (Renard et al., 1997). Erodibility depends essentially on the amount of organic matter in the soil, the texture
of the soil, the structure of the surface horizon and permeability (Robert & Hilborn, 2000). The results indicated
that soil erodibility value in the study watershed ranged from 0.10 Mgh MJ1 mm1 to 0.15 Mgh MJ1 mm1
(table 3 and figure 6).
Table 4: Soil Erodibility Factor
Area
Soil type
K-value
ha
Dystric Fluvisols
0.1
729.9
59.6
Dystric Gleysols
0.15
65.0
5.3
Dystric Nitosols
0.15
145.5
11.9
Orthic Acrisols
0.15
285.2
23.3
1225.6
100
Total
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Govers, 1996). The upslope drainage area for each cell in a DEM was calculated with multiple flow algorithms.
The steepness factor value in the study watershed varies from 0.5 to 4.8 (Figure 7). As slope length increases,
total soil erosion and soil erosion per unit area increase due to the progressive accumulation of runoff in the
down slope direction. The slope length and slope steepness can be used in a single index, which expresses the
ratio of soil loss as defined by (Wischmeier and Smith 1978).
C-value
ha
Cultivated Land
Grass Land
0.15
0.05
480.4
192.5
39.2
15.7
Forest
0.01
456.5
37.3
Shrub Land
0.20
96.1
7.8
1225.6
100.0
Total
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Cultivated Land
Slope (%)
P-factor
ha
0-5
0.1
167.8
13.7
5-10
10-20
0.12
0.14
114.7
165.2
9.4
13.5
20-30
0.19
25.5
2.1
30-50
0.25
7.2
0.6
50-100
0.33
0.1
0.0
All
745.1
60.8
1225.6
100
Total
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Figure 12: Derivative of Management Factor from Land Cover and Slope
3.6 Soil Loss Estimation and Prioritization for Soil Conservation Planning
The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) has been used widely all over the world (Mellerowicz, Ress,
Chow and Ghanem, 1994) including Ethiopia (Kaltenrieder, 2007; Bewket and Teferi, 2009) because of its
simplicity and limited data requirement. The advent of geographical information system (GIS) technology has
allowed the equation to be used in a spatially distributed manner because each cell in a raster image comes to
represent a field-level unit. Even though the equation was originally meant for predicting soil erosion at the field
scale, its use for large areas in a GIS platform has produced satisfactory results (Mellerowicz, Ress, Chow and
Ghanem, 1994; Renard, Foster,Wessies and Porter, 1994). By delineation of watersheds as erosion prone areas
according to the severity level of soil loss, priority is given for a targeted and cost-effective conservation
planning (Kaltenrieder, 2007; Bewket & Teferi, 2009).
Based on the analysis, the soil loss potential of the study watershed was about 41,424.07 ton per year.
Large portion of the watershed (38.5%, 471.6 ha) was categorized none to slight class which under SLT values
ranging from 5 to 11 tons ha-1yr-1 (Renard, Foster, Weesies, McCool and Yoder, 1996). The remaining 56.2%
(689.4 ha) of land was classified under moderate to high class about several times the maximum tolerable soil
loss (11 tons ha-1 y-1) (Table 6 and Figure 10). Mati, Morgan, Gichuki, Quinton, Brewer and Liniger (2000)
estimated average soil loss from croplands in the highlands of Ethiopia as a whole at 100 metric tons ha-1yr-1. In
the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea soil losses are extremely high with an estimated average of 20 metric tons
ha-1yr-1 (Hurni, 1985) and measured amounts of more than 300 metric tons ha-1yr-1on specific plots. Hurni (1993)
estimated mean soil loss from cultivated fields as 42 metric tons ha-1yr-1. The average annual soil loss estimated
by USLE from the entire Gerdi watershed, northwestern Ethiopia was 33.80 ton/ha/yr. Thus, the estimated soil
loss rate was generally realistic, compared to results from previous studies.
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Area
ton/ha/yr
mm/yr*
class
ha
0-5
5-15
0-0.5
0.5-1
Non to slight
Non to slight
65.1
471.6
5.3
38.5
16-30
1-2.5
Moderate
409.7
33.4
31-50
51-100
2.5-4
4-6.5
Moderate
High
118.6
84.4
9.7
6.9
101-200
>200
6.5-16.5
>16.5
High
Very High
38.5
38.2
3.1
3.1
1225.56
100
Total
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estimate soil loss rate over areas though the input parameter values need to be calibrated to the specific area.
5. REFERENCES
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water conservation in an Ethiopian highland watershed. Ecological Economics. 61:294-302.
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Study: Beypazari Area. Turk Journal of Agriculture and Forestry 27(2003).
Bewket W. and Teferi E (2009). Assessment of soil erosion hazard and prioritization for treatment at the
watershed level: case study in the Chemoga watershed, Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. Land degradation &
development. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI:
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Desmet P.J.J. and G. Govers (1996). A GIS procedure for automatically calculating the USLE LS factor on
topographically complex landscape units. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 51.5:427-433.
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Ethiopian Central Agricultural Census Commission (ECACC).2002. Report on Preliminary Results of Area,
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FAO and UNEP (1984).Provisional Methodology for Assessment and Mapping of Desertification. FAO, Rome,
Italy.
FAO(1984). Ethiopian Highland reclamation Study (EHRS). Final Report, Vol. 1-2.Rome.
FAO(1989). Reconnaissance Physical Land Evaluation in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Gebreselasie E.D (1996). Soil erosion hazard assessment for land evaluation. Soil Conservation Research
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Hellden U (1987). An Assessment of Woody Biomass, Community Forests, Land Use and Soil Erosion in
Ethiopia, Lund University Press, Lund.
Hurni H (1985).Erosion-Productivity-Conservation Systems in Ethiopia. Proceedings 4th International
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Hurni H (1988). Degradation and Conservation of the Resources in the Ethiopian highlands. Mountain Research
and Development 8(2/3): 123-130.
Hurni H (1993). Land degradation, famine, and land resource scenarios in Ethiopia. In: Pimentel D. (Ed.) World
soil erosion and conservation.Cambridge Univ. Press, 89-97.
Hurni H.;Herweg,K;Portner,B. and Liniger,H (2008). Soil Erosion and onservation in Global Agriculture.
Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Julien PY, & Frenette M (1998). Physical Processes Groverning Reservoir Sedimentation. International
Conference on Reservoir Sedimentation (pp. 121-142). Fort Collins, Colorado: Colorado State
University.
Kaltenrieder J (2007). Adaptation and Validation of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) for the EthiopianEritrean Highlands.MSc Thesis, University of Berne,Centre for Development and Environment
Geographisches Institut.Lal R (2003) Soil erosion and the global carbon budget. Environ Int 29:437
450.
Lulseged T and Vlek G.L.P (2008). Soil Erosion Studies in Northern Ethiopia. Springer Science+Business
Media B.V.
Mati BM, Morgan RPC, Gichuki FN, Quinton JN, Brewer TR, Liniger HP(2000). Assessment of erosion hazard
with the USLE and GIS: A case study of the Upper Ewaso Ngiro North basin of Kenya. International Journal of
Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 2: 19.
Mellerowicz KT, RessHW, Chow TL, Ghanem I (1994). Soil conservation planning at the watershed level using
the Universal Soil Loss Equation with GIS and microcomputer technologies: A case study. Journal of
Soil and Water Conservation 49: 194200.
Morgan, R.P.C (1994). Soil Erosion and Conservation. Silsoe College, Cranfield University.
Morgan RPC (2005). Soil Erosion and Conservation (3rd edn). Blackwell Science: Oxford.
Renard, KG, Foster, GR, Weesies GA, McCool DK and Yoder D.C (1996). Predicting Soil Erosion by Water: A
Guide to Conservation Planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). USDA,
Washington,DC.
Renard KG., Foster G.R., Weesies GA., McCool DK., Yoder DC(1997). Predicting soil erosion by water-a guide
to conservation planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE).
Renard K, Foster GR, Wessies GA, Porter JP (1994). Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Journal
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